They are pretty good, but not one of my favorites. However, I only own Deliverance and Ghost Reveries so perhaps I'll change my mind whenever I get around to checking out their earlier material.

This topic does give me the opportunity to ask something I've wondered for a while, why is it that none of their material is considered Progressive Melodic Death? I'm aware of the amount (or lack thereof) of Death Metal in their music, but there are plenty of albums that in my opinion have far less Death Metal in them who are considered Melodic Death.

I have listened to Opeth's whole discography all the way through only once, but from what I remember, I liked what I had heard. Damnation was especially a really enjoyable listen for me, as it was a nice change from all the heavy shit I usually love to listen to for once. I got Watershed soon afterward, and liked it.

Pretty good band, very consistent but I'm not a big fan.. I have some of their albums of course but like someone noted earlier I have to be in a certain mood to enjoy them.. they can do better if they cut down their songs by 2 or 3 minutes and reduced the accoustic guitar interludes.

I simply cannot stand them. I find they epitomize pretentiousness and self-aggrandizement. Their full of ideas, indeed they throw everything but the kitchen sink into their music, but this just results in a jumbled mess; lacking direction and substance with no expansion on their themes, lots of mundane, boring pentatonic noodling. Plus I think Mikael Åkerfeldt's growled vocals are terrible.

I say without Lindgren and Lopez (especially), they are largely unfocused and disconnected. Although Akerfeldt thinks he can do it all (like Dave Wyndorf from MM who was one of my favorite bands in the 90's) he can't. He needs those other guys to bring forth greatness. I think MAYH through Ghost Reveries had something amazing going on.

I gave the new album a chance and my reservations and pre-conceived notions about the album all became confirmed. It almost always seems as if certain members with fingerprints leave bands that their next output usually is somewhat sub-par.

Peter hadn't written anything but the solos since MAYH, and Axenrot easily replaced Lopez (he can pretty much replicate everything that Lopez ever did). Some of the beats on Watershed are extremely creative in their own right, even though Axe isn't the same type of drummer that Lopez is.

Watershed wasn't a particularly strong album, and some of Mikael's clean vocal lines were just masturbatory David Coverdale worship, but oh well. That's what he's writing, so whatever appeases him.

Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 5:48 pmPosts: 497Location: United States of America

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:01 pm

vashts80 wrote:

Peter hadn't written anything but the solos since MAYH, and Axenrot easily replaced Lopez (he can pretty much replicate everything that Lopez ever did). Some of the beats on Watershed are extremely creative in their own right, even though Axe isn't the same type of drummer that Lopez is.

Watershed wasn't a particularly strong album, and some of Mikael's clean vocal lines were just masturbatory David Coverdale worship, but oh well. That's what he's writing, so whatever appeases him.

Axenrot is a great death metal drummer, but he aint Martin Lopez who can funk and play death metal equally well. He has an oldschool grace note feel which Axe can't do. Sorry, saw OPETH quite a few times with both Lopez and Axe and they aren't interchangable. Lopez is very inventive and I don't think Axe is that inventive at all.

Fact is, OPETH's fingerprint was a collective one; the lineup on those classic albums is what made those albums exceptional.

I sometimes give Opeth a listen when I have time to just sit down and listen to some music. Musically I find they are a very good band but the song lengths are a downfall, A good 7 minute song is alright on occasion but practically all their songs are that long so its a chore to sit through a whole album. Favorite album would either be Blackwater Park or Deliverance.

Opeth are probably my favourite band, I might be going to Germany to see them (at a festival of course, going to another country just for a gig would be a waste) A lot of the people saying bad things about them seem to just be trolling with little backup or evidence for their statements.

I was a big fan from about 2001 to 2005. Even saw them live twice. When Ghost Reveries came out I lost interest in the band completely. It seemed to me that they became too overtly commercial, but really that transition began as far back as Blackwater Park. In any case, I like everything up to Damnation. I don't listen to them much anymore, but I still give My Arms, Your Hearst and Deliverance a spin every now and then.

they are a good band, they mix and match things up. imo they are like atmospheric death metal. the mix of harsh and clean vocals add something regular people like not the gruff harsh death metal vocals all the time. I think they are one of the coolest bands but like anything else the die hards cannot grok what mikael is doing.

Too many influences crammed into one style. The musicians are talented, albeit a mixed group in terms of preferred genres clearly, which makes albums like Watershed very inconsistent and quite weird at times. Blasting death metal parts are followed by abrupt acoustic interludes in different tempos and time signatures, and once a part ends, it's hardly ever repeated unless it's a chorus (which surprisingly few of the long songs have). They're at their best when they stick to one thing at a time (Damnation).

Sometimes I find myself amazed at how excellent their music is, and at others I'm barely able to stand it. I experience phases of really enjoying all of their stuff and sometimes all I can take is Damnation and maybe the early albums. I really like the band anyway, but I think that their already weak consistency has been experiencing further in the last few years. I hope that their future albums won't be as ambitious and artistic as Watershed.

My favourite part of their music is definitely Åkerfeldt's emotional guitar solos.

I fucking love My Arms, Your Hearse, that album is brilliant. It's because of that album that I own every single album that they've released other than Watershed, and to be honest I don't like any of them much. Orchid is pretty good in parts, but structurally terrible. There's maybe 6 songs I like by them outside of those two albums. MAYH has blown me a lot of money.

_________________

Naamath wrote:

No comments, no words need it, no BM, no compromise, only grains in her face.

It can be very hypnotizing music, but I too have to be in the right mood for the music to be worth more then the sum of it's parts.
When I first heard them I was surprised that a metal band can be so calming, Maybe that's why so many people are bored with them: most metal bands do the opposite.

My only complaint is sometimes the sudden acoustic parts and clean vocals come across as forced contrast and silly.

I simply cannot stand them. I find they epitomize pretentiousness and self-aggrandizement.

You can dislike them all you want... but I wouldn't call them pretentious. Just because of the way they write music? Dude... if you want to throw that term around, then go throw it at Yngwie Malmsteen.

My favourite part of their music is definitely Åkerfeldt's emotional guitar solos.

Yeah, he's not super wanky (which is honestly, what I mostly like in my solos), but they flow with the mood and music perfectly.... the one following the breakdown near the end of "Deliverance" in particular is amazing!

hairwaytostevens wrote:

I really like Opeth. My favorite song by them would have to be "To Bid You Farewell" off of Morningrise.

My only complaint is sometimes the sudden acoustic parts and clean vocals come across as forced contrast and silly.

That was my main problem with the new album, it actually had some of the best music they've ever done on it, but there was barely a single transition that worked at all. It's a problem they've always had, but its the worst it's ever been on Watershed.

_________________

Naamath wrote:

No comments, no words need it, no BM, no compromise, only grains in her face.

Orchid has aged pretty terribly. Everything about that album from the god awful production to the weird and out of place transitions. I still have a soft spot for Morningrise, but I have never really understood the BIG deal about the first two Opeth records. IMO, the band was gold from My Arms, Your Hearst to Blackwater Park. They started to falter and decline soon after that.

Yeah, he's not super wanky (which is honestly, what I mostly like in my solos), but they flow with the mood and music perfectly.... the one following the breakdown near the end of "Deliverance" in particular is amazing!

All of the song "Deliverance" is amazing. Especially the end, while it gets a bit repetitive, the drums are almost mind-blowing.

My only complaint is sometimes the sudden acoustic parts and clean vocals come across as forced contrast and silly.

That was my main problem with the new album, it actually had some of the best music they've ever done on it, but there was barely a single transition that worked at all. It's a problem they've always had, but its the worst it's ever been on Watershed.

exactly. mike wanted it to be a metal version of "the drift" by scott walker, and it just didn't work real well. the transitions are the worst they've ever been, his clean vocals are way too cheesy (the over-masturbation on the coverdale worship is astonishingly bad) and some of the lyrics are just fucking bad.

in fact, I'd go so far to say that heir apparent has the only good lyrics...the rest are just :erk:.

lotus eater works better live than on the album, though.

I'll say, however, that axe showed on watershed that he's entirely capable of matching lopez in the drum department. he's gotten a lot better at the softer parts since he joined.

Opeth is a very good band and I like them quite a bit. The only releases I'm not particularily fond of are the latest 2 and they do seem to be going downhill but that doesn't change the fact that the prior albums are spectacular.

_________________Balls. No joy would flicker in her balls.

Last edited by Reign_of_Praine on Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Opeth is a very good band and I like the quite a bit. The only releases I'm not particularily fond of are the latest 2 and they do seem to be going downhill but that doesn't change the fact that the prior albums are spectacular.

I feel that Watershed is one of their best albums. Interesting...

_________________"History is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever."

Yeah, he's not super wanky (which is honestly, what I mostly like in my solos), but they flow with the mood and music perfectly.... the one following the breakdown near the end of "Deliverance" in particular is amazing!

All of the song "Deliverance" is amazing. Especially the end, while it gets a bit repetitive, the drums are almost mind-blowing.

I actually really like the repetition. It's like you don't expect them to play that section another time, when in actuality they play it like 6 more times. It's unexpected, plus since it's such an awesome section that hearing it so many times doesn't bother me at all. I can understand if someone disliked the repetitiousness of the ending though.

I used to listen to Opeth a lot when I first got into them several years ago... 2004. They quickly became a favorite of mine, and I bought most of their catalog. When "Watershed" came out I bought it, but I still have not given it an honest listen. I've just been into to many other albums. Besides "Watershed" the only other albums I haven't really spun are "Orchid" and "Still Life". That's probably because I downloaded them, so they got no air-play in the car.

_________________What is this that stands before me?
Figure in black which points at me.
Turn around quick and start to run.
Find out I'm the chosen one,
Now it’s too late my life is done!!!

I am visiting Dubai soon so I decided to shift it until march as Opeth are playing there. I have missed them already in both HELLFEST (France) as I preferred to watch Morbid Angel and At The Gates (front row) while opeth were playing on the other stage but I couldn't really see them hehe and GRASPOP (Belgium) as they canceled so I think they are not close to being a favorite of mine.

I have a few of their newer albums but haven't listened to them much...I'm working on it, they all seem decent at least.

But I have to say, when I heard My Arms, Your Hearse back when it came out, I thought it was just Dark Tranquillity with no real songs. That album is basically the reason I never got into Opeth at all until recently, but then again, I never really gave it a chance.

0ne of my favourite bands. I'm not a big fan of their early material, it's too damn chaotic on the songwriting level. They got better with My Arms (an album I curiously never could get that much into) and Still Life is an excellent piece of progressive music. Their latest albums are all great, GR is my favourite record and Watershed is also a fine effort, even though I miss Martin's drumming.

I also think that, while the songwriting is still very extraordinary and probably doesn't always effect the listener in the manner the band had intended, it has improved drastically from the band's early years. On Orchid, in particular, songs were constructed a bit like classical works, and while separate segments were coherent and not even particularly progressive, one song could consist of millions of different moods. Later, the band would become able to make a song seem like a coherent whole despite some rather awkward transitions. At their best, that is. Songs like The Lotus Eater aren't even remotely coherent.